


Sniper

by Zinae



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BAMF!Lance, Gen, Hang the fool is beautiful read it i was inspired so much by those few words, Langst, OC, Sniper!Lance AU, a lot of it, gen - Freeform, have mercy on me, its a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-09 10:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13479936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinae/pseuds/Zinae
Summary: Imma gonna teach ya art. Us snipers are a bunch’a backstabbin’assholes, we live in the shadows, we hunt in the dark, we wait for weeks if necessary, just for that one right moment. And if it never comes, we create it. Ya gonna learn how to seduce and find the information of your targets by watchin’ alone. Snipin’, kid, is like romance, cruel, desperate, one thrill after the next. Adrenaline through your veins and the pain of heartache afterwards. We are murderers, kid, remember that. But this is war anyway. We wanna have peace we hafta fight for it.





	1. One

_ Say a prayer, if you care about that sort of thing. Where I come from, peace never came without killing those who didn't want it. So, watch me. Aim with your heart. _

_ Kill with your eye. _

_ … _

_ Pull the trigger with your soul. _

_ (Hang the fool, Chapter 6;  _ by AlmaMeDuele)

 

Among the rebels, that woman was a legend.

 

Highest kill count, thousands of galran soldiers on her conscience, all the while never setting foot on the battlefield.

Not once in fifty years.

Lance almost squealed when she approached him one night, head up high and looking at him from a mass of dark hair, posture straight and calm, a cigaret burning blue between her lips.

She was no beautiful woman, maybe when she had been young, then yeah, but now there was a certain coldness in her eyes, sharp and dark, molten gold, scars spanning over her cheeks and bare arms. 

Later, he almost fled the scene when her voice burned him to ashes, setting his nerves and feelings on fire, tears barely held back.

After all this time he still had no idea why he had stayed.

“What’cha doin’?”

He looked up at her, dark cape, camouflage clothes, barely visible in the shadows spanning over the training hall.

“Training? Practice?”, really, he was a little bit confused why she was talking to him. surely she had better things to do?

“What exactly.”

Not even a question, more a demand, the ghost of a scoff.

“Sharpshooting…?”

“Ya’re no sharpshooter like that, brat. A kid with a watergun maybe, but no sharpshooter. Stance atrocious, aimin’ like a newborn drunk with a knife shoved up his ass, no patience. Too giddy, too loud. pah.”, her voice cut through his heart, cold and colder, sharp and deep, husky, worn out, the cigaret between her lips a flash of blue, the smoke curling around a midnight mass of curls and grey skin, wrinkles around her eyes, “Ya head’s in the clouds, kid. what are ya thinkin’ of? Ya friends? How much ya miss ya family? Concentrate on the target first, worry second. Ya’re no use to anyone busted and dead.”

A deep scoff on her features, “That gun is an offense to my eyes. ho do ya even shoot with that mess? It’s way too bulky, no elegance whatsoever. It looks way too heavy. too much work. What is ya princess even thinkin’?” She grabbed the bayard, muscles flexing with practiced ease, eyes already on the target as she crouched down, one glorious moment of the light falling just right and wow, she was beautiful.

“Then teach me.”, he whispered, too caught up in the moment. Close to tears and still awe-struck. Wow, he was a mess.

He did not want to beg, but he had to learn. He just had to. And she could teach him. She could teach him so, so much. He had heard the stories, whispered around campfires, in dark corners, whispers of the sniper who had fought for the rebellion for so long, she had nothing else left. They worshipper her dedication, her sacrifices, everything she had done for all of them. she was a hero for so many. 

And she could teach him.

And for that? He would gladly beg.

“Ya’re no sniper, brat.”, she growled, head snapping around, the light illuminating streaks of indigo in her hair, an ugly grimace of disdain on her face, “Again. Too flashy. Learn decorum first. This armor of yours and this.. thing,” she waved the bayard around, “Are an eyesore. How do ya expect to stay undetected when ya’re glowing like a party? White? Of all things?!”

She laughed, dry, broken, something of a rattling sound, “And do ya really have the time for this? there is a war outside, kid. Snipin’ takes years of practice and you can kiss action goodbye. It’s a game of cat and mouse, constant waitin’, bored, hidden, alone. Long days and longer nights, no sleep, little food, little water, always on the lookout and waitin’, waitin’, waitin’. Are ya sure ya want that?”

“I want to learn.”, if there was anything he had, it was determination, dammit.

And this was a chance. He had to grasp it.

“Stubborn, huh. Good one, kid. Why don’ ya prove it. No whinin’, no annoyin’ chatter, I am your teacher. I say jump, ya jump, i say run, ya run. Ya’re under my command and ya’re gonna play by my rules. Go change. Or get rid of this ridiculous armor. Dark clothes, no stupid lights or we stop before ya can say `whoops`. imma gonna go and get ya a real weapon.”

She whirled around, cape fluttering behind her, long legs, metal shimmering in the lights, leaving Lance breathless and overwhelmed in her wake. The poor boy pretty much melted into a puddle the second she was out of the hall, gasping for breath and trying to comprehend what just happened.

He had a teacher. One intense, cold teacher, but a teacher. 

“Woah… That person sure is something..,”, he whispered as he, hands shaking, slipping off his armor, as he began taking the heavy material off, “How am I supposed to tell everyone? I mean, alright, they accepted Keith leaving and he is actually a valid member of the team, but…” 

Red would be furious. Blue would be so sad. But then someone good could take his place, someone actually useful. Like Matt or even Coran, for that matter.

They were better suited for Voltron anyways, no petty rivalries, no dumb chatter. They were smart and strong. Lance? Lance could learn and then… He could support them for real.

“I am the seventh wheel after all…”, he grinned to himself,”I can do this.”

The last bit of armor fell off and he stretched, reveling in the freedom just being in the black suit gave him. He was careful when he experimentally went through a few exercises he remembered form school, testing his agility, old tricks he had learned in his gymnastics classes. the agility was nice. He had lost some defense but he could make it up with the new speed he could gain with a bit of training. climbing would be easier like that, too…

His eyes fell on the bayard, he carefully picked it up and examined the weapon. A laser blaster, not really a sniper, though the range had been nice. It had transformed into one once, but that had been circumstance and he was still grateful he had managed to hoot that thing. the backlash had been extreme and nearly ripped his arms off…

Someone cleared their throat and he whirled around, caught and frightened for a second,until his eyes recognized the gold glowing from the shadows, watching the woman step out and eye him with something resembling approval, “Not half bad, kid. Better than before, at least. Good posture, now that i can actually see ya move.”

“The name’s Lance.”, he shot back, then almost hid behind his bayard, as she shot him a look.

“i don’ care, brat, ya could be Princess Rosa the third for all i care, but ya’re my student and ya will show me some respect. Ya’ll call me Chief, Ma’am or Madam Amara, sir after every sentence. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”, his eyes followed the movement of her hands, as she slung off the beauty of a weapon off her shoulder and crouched down again.

“We’re gonna start with somethin’ simple. Ya watch, ya learn. Patience comes first, then we’re gonna build ya weapon from scratch. Imma gonna teach ya art. Us snipers are a bunch’a backstabbin’assholes, we live in the shadows, we hunt in the dark, we wait for weeks if necessary, just for that one right moment. And if it never comes, we create it. Ya gonna learn how to seduce and find the information of your targets by watchin’ alone. Snipin’, kid, is like romance, cruel, desperate, one thrill after the next. Adrenaline through your veins and the pain of heartache afterwards. We are murderers, kid, remember that. But this is war anyway. We wanna have peace we hafta fight for it.”

Aside from the small movements of her mouth, there was barely any movement, her whole aura changing from cold to pure deadly effectiveness. He watched and listened, noticed how, as she finally stood up and looked at his awestruck expression, there was barely a rustle coming off her clothes, her breathing almost inaudible. 

She smiled. Not in a nice way, more like a smirk, but it was something, “Prepare for pain, kid. Prepare for hard work and kiss that pretty skin of yours goodbye. We start now.”


	2. Two

Lance noticed Amara’s scoff first when he got out of Red after a mission. they had infiltrated another galran base and really, if it wasn’t for Pidge and her mad hacking skills, they would have died. the funny thing was, he had noticed a few pretty good hiding places for them , but hell if someone listened to him. He felt Red nudging him in his mind, carefully soothing his ruffled feathers and warming him back up. She wanted to talk to the other lions. He smiled up at her and jogged up to his teacher.

“Hey.”

“Dumb robot, bein’ in the fuckin’ way…”, Amara murmured, the cigaret in her mouth bouncing,unlit for once, “How ya survived this long, no idea.”

“You are not really fond of Voltron, huh.”

“We started this mess without this damned thing, we’re gonna finish it without. It’s just another shiny weapon to wave around. Nothin’ without the people standin’ behind it.”

“On Reds behalf, I will be offended you said that. The lions understand you fully well, I hope you realize that.”, Lance puffed out his chest and grinned up at the woman. In those last few weeks she seemed to finally have warmed up to him. somewhat.

He had her patience training to thank for that. At his point he dared to make dumb jokes and spiky comments.

The “patience-training”, as Amara had called it, was little more than one big waiting game. Sometimes he went, days, a few times even weeks without even one word from her, when he whined, she literally told him to sit down and wait until she told him otherwise and then left for hours.

But when she finally decided that she had left him hanging long enough, she taught him how to crawl, hide, all the millions, thousands, hundreds of ways, to blend in, she slowly build up his stamina. 

she taught him how to stay in certain positions for hours and keep his body from falling asleep with small, swift movements. 

And if Lance thought, Alluras training regimen was hard? It was nothing compared to the hell Amara sometimes made him go through. He learned fast that sleep was for the weak, his skin lost most of its shine but damn it, he was punctual to all training sessions. 

Add to it the strain of Alluras training on top of that and he pretty much spend several days in the healing pod.

Still, slave drivers, both of them.

But still, he pushed through.

The others had noticed. Of course they had noticed.

But most times, Lance, the coward that he sometimes was, was gone long before they could reach him.

“Ya still tryin’ to tell me that thing’s sentient, huh…”, Amara stepped forward, pose challenging as she stared up at Red. Their position, somewhat further away from the other paladins, allowed her a good look at Red, her build, “A fast one, huh. Smaller that those monsters, good speed from what I saw on the videos, not as useless, if you painted her somethin’ darker… or not as flashy.”

Red actually honest to god growled at that.

Lance almost burst out laughing.

Amara just smiled, “So the legends really are true, huh.” There was something like wonder in her eyes, “We all heard the stories as kids. And we all heard how it ended. That idiot emperor made quite the mess, killing your paladin, huh…” Sympathy? Sadness? Grief? Lance had never seen that expression on her face, but it had something tragic in ot, so he refrained from asking.

Instead he carefully touched his teacher’s arm, “Hey, Chief, are we gonna train today or what?”

She looked at him, blinked, and nodded, “Go shower, ya reek. Maybe today we’re gonna start on the shootin’.” Her eyes fell on Red, “Quit ya mother hen aura already, i won’ kill him. I just teach him to survive.”

The other paladins barely registered just how fast Lance ran off towards the showers.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are pretty short, tbh, mainly bc I wrote this in my notebook first and then typed it on Beatrice. Also, it was supposed to be a oneshot.  
> Welp. Ships are still open, i am open to pretty much anything, as long as I can make it floofy and healthy.


	3. Three

“Remember that first day? Imitate my position.”, Amara was standing over him, “Crouch down, find a comfortable position, breathe properly or Imma gonna take that weapon away again.”

“Hell no, she's gorgeous.”, Lance grinned, as he caressed the barrel of his new child. He still obediently crouched down the way she wanted him to.

“Breathe in, aim, shoot, breathe out. Eyes on ya target.”, she grabbed him by his shoulder and neck and adjusted his position into something more comfortable and stable, “Always remember that your own health is just as important. When ya don’ move a muscle, better be on the safe side. Pullin’ a muscle or pins and needles suck. Now shoot, I wanna see.”

His breath was shaky, rattling through his form, as he swallowed past that lump and caressed the trigger. 

He shot.

And as it halled through the hall, he turned his face away, only to be grabbed again and foced to look, “Ya missed, kid. But loads better than that first day I watched ya. That was one big clusterfuck of incompetence. Some practice, a fittin’ weapon..” Her eyes met his and he could have sworn there was something way too soft in them, for just one second, “I actually don’ regret taking ya in. Well done.”

Lance beamed and blew the air out of his eyes, “Of course you don#t! I’m just that awesome… sir.”

Amaras shoulders trembled for a second, “Amara is fine, If we’re not trainin’. Don’ abuse this.”

His endurance skyrocketed after that, together with his patience, because now he got assignments. now he had reasons for seemingly pointlessly lying on the floor.

Coran actually found out about him first, mostly by accident, as he dashed into the training hall of the rebels and watched Lance go through another energy capsule of bullets. 

It was one hell of an awkward talk about secrets and endangering Voltron, that end with Lance screaming his insecurities at the older man and rushing out the door, past Amara, who send Coran one dirty look, “Good thing ya do to a kid’s confidence. Idiots.” and went after him.

She could have caught up to him anytime, but she let him flee to Red and her safe confines, knowing that he really did not want anyone to see him like this. so she just made sure he got there and later went in search of Matt, who was once again orbiting around Allura and not doing his job.

Lance, he broke down in Red. 

Her soothing warmth barely got through his panicked darkness, but she fought through and then enveloped him into the closest thing to a hug. 

“Red, I’m not Keith. I’m not a prodigy fighter, a prodigy leader, mechanic or anything smart, really. Everything I know is… It’s my family and how to care for people. I am not enough for this team, dammit, and I know that they are just humouring me, really. You probably too. I know that you miss Keith, girl, he was way more like you that i will ever be. I just… i can’t risk you. Any of you. You are my family now and I can only defend you, try to protect all of you. And if it meant leaving, I was ready to do so, but I don’t want to, so I never said a thing… I am really a coward, Red. Why you let me pilot you, I will never know…”

He breathed in, his hands itching to shoot again, but he wanted to talk to someone about this and as much as he worshipped his teacher, she was not someone to share his worries with, so Red was really the next best option, “I know I am changing, I know you hate me waiting forever until i charge in, but Amara taught me so much and it bled into my piloting of you. I... “

Red nudged his thoughts, something understanding, a memory that felt like hunting a bunch of perfectly lined up prey, the galra easily overwhelmed and desperate to figure out just where they came from. She flooded him with giddiness of the next hunt and how mad she had been at the start, but she understood, she understood that his instincts were not an inferno, like Keith, but the quiet campfire that could develop into a forest fire no one could ever escape from.

“Sorry I stopped visiting so suddenly… How about I take a few days off and just fly around with you? Just the two of us doing stupid stunts and… talking.”

She nudged him, carefully, the memory of his mother's hugs overwhelming him again. “I miss everyone, to be honest, even Keith. But he is with the blade anyway.”

Lance scrambled to his feet, “I need to shower, Allura is probably starting another teamwork session later and i want to look presentable. Or Coran told everyone and I will tell them today that I don’t plan on going until they find someone better for you.”

Red actually punched him for that one. She really did not want someone else. 

“Yeah, I know... “, Lance smiled gratefully, “I know now at least. Thanks, stormfire.”

Red purred at the nickname and he laughed quietly, “Yeah, I’ll keep it. now, off to the lion’s den.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As i said, the chapters are short af XD   
> Also, I can't really promise regular updates, but I will try to make them every day up to every second day. No promise, you might have to wait for a week sometimes, but a week is the longest. I want to finish this and I am motivated. Also, not much plot here, so short chaps and soon done anyway^^ I was really just playing around with scenarios and words...


	4. Four

The other paladins were waiting for him, as he came into the room, still in his sniper training armor, the new one Amara had bullied some poor rebel to get, and they were staring at him with different expressions. Hunk looked like he was seconds from crying, Pidge looked actually pretty clm, like she had already known, Shiro was giving him the eyebrows of disappointment.

Allura looked furious.

Keith was just… confused.

Wait, Keith?

“What’s mullet doing here?”, he smiled in false bravado, hs eyes falling onto corans tired, sad frown and disappearing just as fast as it came, “You told them, I guess.”

“I want to hear it from you.”, Allura growled, “Are you going to abandon us too?”

Keith flinched at that and the air got even heavier around them. 

Lance actually laughed at that one, “It’s not like you weren’t glad that Keith was gone, princess. And it’s not like you won’t be able to fill my place once I’m gone, either.”

“What do you mean?”, Shiro asked.

“I don’t belong in this team, in case you haven’t noticed. Pidge is a wonderful, smart strategist, you are our leader, Allura is our princess and Coran pretty much our mental support. Hunk builds stuff and makes sure that no one starves on ur ship, hell, even Keith was our prime fighter and he left a glaring hole when he left. I? I’m not worth anything in this team. I only joke and annoy all of you. Right? And don’t tell me it’s not true. this is exactly what you think of me, sans Hunk, because he knows me.”

“Well the only thing you do is boast and flirt.”, Allura hissed.

Hunk stood up, “Yeah, because Lance sucks at talking about his feelings. H bottles up. He chatters, flirts, jokes, because everyone has different ways to cope…”

“Because you know what, princess? I am scared. Scared of never seeing my family ever again, scared of losing the family I found out here, scared that in the end, you all actually hate me and are just keeping me, because you have no other choice. Hunk is right, I don’t like talking about my feelings, but you know what? I am learning. Amara is kind of the best thing that has happened to me aside from Blue and Red ever since we started forming Voltron. In case you haven’t noticed, my combat skills got better, I am punctual.”

“You are also rarely there.”, Coran murmured.

“Because if i am it only ends in everyone telling me how much i suck and I don’t need it right now. I don’t need even more insecurities. It hurts as it is. i don’t want to leave but this? Sometimes I wonder if its worth it. If you even try to see a person and not a flirt. I may love you, but i have to think of myself once in a while. Sorry, i need some time away. Red and i are going flying for a few days and i need to get some stuff and warn Amara, now that you know about her. She teaches me how to be a good sharpshooter. She is one hell of a woman that I will never cross, she is a war veteran and the rebels worship her. She is the absolute worst at feelings but the best teacher I could have ever asked for. unlike you, princess, she actually tells me well done.She did not want to teach me but she gave me a chance. think about that.”

Lance whirled around, “Hunk… Sorry you got dragged into this. If you want to… i would like to make up for being gone all the time…”

“I’ll just drop by your room later, bro, we can talk there.”, Hunks smile was somewhat sad. 

“I knew.”, Pidge lifted her head and looked at everyone in the room, “Matt told me. And you know what? i knew that Lance will never leave us just like that. He is not the type.” she stood up and left the room.

Lance followed her, “Thanks?”

“You still should have told us, Lance… Losing you will be just as hard as losing Keith was.”, as he caught up with the short girl, she punched his arm, “You see us as family. Get used to it that we feel the same. hunk and I missed you. A lot. Come back, okay? Or just… make some time for us. Show us your new mad skills, if you want to or something. But… don’t leave us out.”

“i missed you too.”

Lance was so not crying again as he got to his room and fell face first on the mattress, sobbing into his blanket and asking for forgiveness no one could give him.

 

Later, when he had caught himself and heard the knock, he opened the door to Hunk and pidge, who pretty much just barreled into him and almost hugged him to death.

They did not talk much, except hunk asking “Are you happy learning all that?” and Lance answering yes, but they played games on the console and joked around. they ate the food hunk had brought with him and Lance fell asleep on his best friend, arms wrapped around Pidge, who grumbled at first but them cuddled up to him. Hunk just threw a blanket over all three of them, made a selfie with Lances comm and set the pic as his new screen. 

“Don’t you dare leaving again, idiot..”, he murmured into brown hair as sleep claimed him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	5. Five

Keith stayed for a few days and at some point Lance just decided to go for it and invited the mullet to join him when he was going to fly with Red, “She misses you and you look like you need a vacation.”

Of course it was one awkward little adventure, but at some point they started talking about their different approaches to flying the lion and then Keith throwing a Star wars reference happened and suddenly it was easy. Lance was laughing so hard, he had tears streaming off his face, Keith almost crashed them into an asteroid  he was so far gone, and Red just wondered how she had chosen these two goofballs. 

They returned smiling and giggling, bursting into laughter again the second they saw Pidge and Hunks confused looks.

It was Shiro who broke their fun apart.

“Lance, do you have a moment?”, his eyes were serious, tired.

There was little more Lance could do but nod, really. 

Well and follow Shiro into his room, sit down on the only chair in the room and stare at the floor.

“soo, secrets. You’ve been keeping them.”, Shiro sat down opposite of Lance on the bed and grabbed two water boxes, throwing one towards Lance, “I mean, we noticed but most of us thought it was something closer to romantic shenanigans and not a life changing decision for all of us. When did this start, Lance? what happened?”

Cue eyebrows of disappointment.

Lance almost said that out loud. Almost.

Instead he just, swallowed and forced himself to breathe, carefully arranging words in his head and trying to find the right ones. Really, once he really needed them, words seemed to just fail him. 

“I... “, he began. Stopped, thought again, “I already told you my problem, Shiro. You were there. The is nothing else i can add to it. I don’t want to leave, i promise, you can trust me on that, but… I just feel like I’m not enough. like I’m just… there. Red and Blue tried talking it out of me, but aside from them and Hunk sometimes… You only told me once that i did a good job. That time when we saved Slav from Beta Traz. That’s it.” His voice was quiet, barely a whisper, oddly calm and somewhat empty. “i just… I want to do something. I want to help. And apparently i don’t suck as much at shooting. Especially with the right gear and some pretty awesome instructions. Amara opened a door for me. And now? I can help. Yes, i became a loner, I miss all of you so much, you have no idea, but all this training helped me improve. Really, honestly improve. I… I calmed down a lot. I talk to Red and we talk about our plans, we share so much. Amara shares so much with me. You should talk to her one day. I am sorry I kept this a secret. But… I wasn’t sure about what I wanted. What my options were.”

“You are always welcome here, Lance.”, Shiro murmured, “I guess we should have asked. Wondered a little bit more. We just thought…”

“That I am only one big flirt and have nothing more on my mind than girls? Yeah, that was pretty much the only thing I wanted you to see. i guess, I am a pretty good actor?”

Lance laughed quietly to himself, “I was afraid that you won’t accept the somewhat sad part of me? No idea why, you accepted Kwith, of all people and he was one new level of emo… Anxiety, I guess.”

He grinned. shiro raised an eyebrow.

The grin fell again.

Shiro sighed, “Not funny, Lance. i am your leader, I should have known. I should have noticed and you should have talked to any of us. Hunk, Me. Anyone. “

“I talked to Blue and Red!”

“The lions can’t help!”

“They did! They calmed me down! They listened, they comforted me. Hell, Red is adorable when she gets all warm and cuddly and starts rambling about Alfor. I barely understand anything but apparently that guy was a ray of sunshine. Why she chose Keith afterwards, no idea.”

Another sigh from his leader and Lance gave him another helpless grin. 

“You really cope with mindless chatter and flirting, huh”, Shiro smiled back, just as helpless and grabbed the kid, pulling him towards him, “Talk to us. Any of us. No secrets, you know how fast that can endanger Voltron. And we need voltron, we need you. You are valid, you are a member of our team.”

He was not going to cry. Lance was not going to cry.

Not here, at least.

“Okay. May I flee now? i feel like I was scolded by my dad and now i kinda wanna run to mum and cry.”

“Mum?”

“Hunk. He is my mother until i can hug my mom. his hugs are the closest thing.”

This time Shiro really laughed.

“Only you, Lance… Wait, does this mean…”

“In case you wondered, yes, Hunk and I talked about this. You are both single parents united in adopting the same kids and taking care of them. The other option was you two being divorced and sharing custody. Your pick.”

And with that said, Lance fled, leaving one very exasperated and laughing Shiro in his wake.


	6. Six

He went through approximately a billion barrels, scopes and other parts in what felt like years but really was just something over a month, comparing, practicing, searching until finally, slowly, surely, under the watchful eye of his teacher and at some point his leader, Lance build his first sniper. And in his eyes, this was his daughter and a true work of art.

Long,sleek, elegant, plasma bullets, dark blue and barely visible in pace, loud as hell but, considering that at least in space, there was no sound, and him being too far away on planets, that was only one small concern. He was in love with the range of several miles, the scope spanning a small eternity and the terrifying backlash that almost threw him back until he figured it out and build the strength to hold her.

Love, he was in love. And his very first mission, his somewhat final test, after all this time, was with her. 

And Matt. 

That… he should explain that probably.

So, it was one of those nights where they had just finished a mission, they were celebrating with the rebels. It was one hell of a party, Pidge was trying to get Shiro drunk on space alcohol because Keith thad slipped them something close to, “It’s hilarious, you have to see it.”, Matt was retelling stories of his adventures as a rebel, hunk was, well, eating and keeping an eye on Lance. Both he and Pidge had taken to either kidnapping Lance once in awhile, ditching training in the castle to hang out or just… sitting in on Lance’s time with Amara. 

Amara was… not amused to say the least. Sadly, Lance’s friends were just as stubborn as he was so now she just grumbled and threatened them to say one word and they would meet her gun on the wrong side.

One. Word.

So they stayed quiet and they watched. Sometimes it was just Hunk, when Pidge found something new to tinker with, sometimes it was just Pidge, when hunk was either taking the kitchens and its staff apart for doing god knows what with their food or helping with repairs.

But back to the explanations, it was a party, lance was sitting with Amara and she was a little bit drunk. Still grumpy, still cold, still a little bit sharp around her edges, but way more talkative about herself, “A sniper, kid… S’is a job for two. The scout and the guy at the gun. Ya need one, a scout. I lost mine. Good guy, good eyes, good common sense. He was fast, scary with a knife and unkillable.”

“What happened?”

“Galra got ‘im. Dragged ‘im into one of their facilities. We… tried gettin’ him out, but it…”

Matt sat beside them as Amara got quiet, “Talking about Nova?” his eyes met Lance’s, “Take Shiro but worse. He was beyond saving, so… This woman shot him. Never picked up a sniper afterwards, refused to do missions and just stayed on the Bridge, helping with planning.”

“I’m… sorry.”

“Ya need one, kid. A scout, not an efficient sharpshooter otherwise. Find one. Then we’ll try a real mission.”, she stood up and left.

Lance almost fell over if it wasn’t for Matt, “Wait, for real? A mission? I…” He may have been glowing a bit. A lot actually. 

“This happy?”

“I’ve been begging for a mission for weeks. Weeks, Matt. I mean, I hit bullseye on moving targets now, and those things have Blade of Marmora speed now, after someone allowed Pidge, Coran and Allura to overhaul the halls. This is… I can prove that I’ve learned something. I can actually use these skills now.” 

Dear lord, Lance was smiling.

“Sooo, want me to tag along?”, Matt grinned at him, “I mean, I scouted for a few missions, I can keep an eye out and you can concentrate on your job.”

“Are you sure?”

“Duh. We will have to train a bit together, but we might make a pretty decent team.”, grinning, Matt stretched his hand out.

Lance shook it and smiled back, “Got it. Pidge will kill me for stealing her partner in crime.”

Pidge tried.

She really really tried. With all her might. 

But in the end Red finally landed in a safe distance from the Galran base, they got out and hid her away, Lance promising to be careful and swearing that she could always reach out to him. 

She did. They somehow managed to nudge and prod each other the whole time, with Matt sitting in a tree and Lance crouching in the bushes, eyes wide, heart calm as they waited and watched the Galra. 

One week passed, then another and they learned.

A lot actually. They learned the patrol patterns, that the General they were supposed to kill was easier to reach if they sneaked in and killed him there, that bombing the place would be safer for all of them instead of risking Voltron.

They made one rough plan and came back without Lance having to shoot.

Amara looked proud, actually. 

“Well done, boys.”, she ruffled their hair, her hands thin and spidery but so warm and they grinned, “Ya found out what your job was, huh.”

“Huh?”

“Watchin’, kids. Only few missions are meant to be assassinations, most of them are for intel gathering. This”, she wiggled with their report, “Is goin’ to the Blade and they are doing the rest.”

Lance stared at the papers, “Is Keith going?”

“No idea, that’s Kolivan’s decision.”, Amara shrugged, “If they think that he is most suitable, then yes, if not, well, there are more than enough members with the necessary qualifications.”

They hummed, thinking about it, “Alright.”

Lance still stared at the papers and really, he was just praying that Keith did not have the necessary abilities. 

He actually liked the mullet well enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cant find a good plot, I wrote what I wanted to write, now... maybe one, two? more Chaps and this will be done. Not very long, not very good, but I did something? I tried at least XD   
> I will finish it though, so that counts as a win.
> 
> Soooo, about the next fanfic: I am stuck:   
> 1\. How Lance's parents met and fell in love. Oneshot probably.   
> 2\. The Voltron Parents going BERSERK on the Garisson and becoming friends in their united plan to destroy the ppl who managed to lose their children.  
> 3\. i forgot the third one. Something Lance again, i remember that.


	7. Seven

Missions continued as such, Lance and Matt teaming up, Pidge throwing fits and them teasing her.

At some point she dryly commented that she had two annoying flirts she called brothers and they laughed it off. Until they realized that dammit, she was right.

From then on things got worse for the poor girl. Two guys threatening to do the shovel talk to her future partner were hell. 

And then the rest agreed. even Shiro.

In general, things got better, Lace spend as much time with the others as he did with amara, sometimes he locked himself in Red and they talked, about training, their friends, sometimes Red talked about Alfor and Lance promised himself to tell Allura, once it was not as awkward between them.

Though that stayed for a while. they never got to talking, mostly because Allura was dead set on training and nothing more and Lance knew that she was still mad at him and he understood, really, but she needed to step back a bit. Burnouts were a thing, even for aliens.

So one day, weeks and weeks later, he just grabbed his princess and dragged her off onto the holodeck, sat her down and grabbed her shoulders, “Princess. Enough. You look like my uncle days from his first burnout. Chill. Calm down. Breathe. We may be at war, but you are useless like this. Hell, Blue is useless without you. I know you are still mad and i am sorry for not talking but, in my defense, no one ever cared before. You never cared and I gave up. But we need to stop this.”

“You only ever flirted.”, she whispered, “You never really contributed to the team as a whole except for goofing off…”

“Yes. I still flirt. I still joke. Because you know what? I don’t want us to break. We are at war, princess, and believe it or not, it does not revolve around missions. There is morale, camaraderie, friendship. Morale, again. if we are too done to fight, we will die. So yes, I goof off. But I still train, I am still on time when we train. What do you want? For me to revert back to the start of my training? Everyone being miserable? Aren’t you miserable enough for all of us?”

She froze, “I…”

“How about a date?”, Lance smiled at her, “Not romantic or anything, just us spending some time together and talking about things that have nothing to do with war. maybe our childhoods or stuff. We can invite Hunk and Pidge.”

She breathed in, “I…”

“No pressure, please.”, still smiling, Lance reached out to her, she grabbed his hand and he stood up, pulling her with him.

“Okay. I agree. Maybe we all need to do something good for… ourselves.”, she whispered, “You are right. Coran is right… I just, we are so close to winning and i am terrified that from here on we will start losing…”

“We won’t. We’ll win.”, Lance was still holding her hand, as they left for the kitchens, to find Hunk, he guessed, “We have one hell of a lot more chances to win now. We have the rebels, the Blade, we are all evolving into great Paladins. We can and we will win this war. We will save the universe.”

“Do you really believe this?”

“I know it.”

 


	8. Eight

Lance was barely breathing as he stared through the scope, atop of Red, hidden on a comet. His target barely moved herself, the purple light flickering off her cloak and hands. Matt was sitting on another comet, they had their own com, but he was still keeping his helmet close. Once he was done here, there were orders to get back to his team, get Matt on the way and voltron the hell away. 

The rest was up to Keith and the Blade.

This was their pretty much best chance to win this, to kill both Zarkon and Haggar with one mission.

His main job was to kill Haggar.

So he kept watching her and Matt kept watching his back, entertaining him with mindless space trivia and dumb theories on what they missed on their TV shows at home. 

Sometimes they sniggered and Lance almost forgot that this was a mission and that they should concentrate, but hey, that purple light was… well, it kept him focused. 

Waiting was hard, still, after all these months, but he had learned to cope, counting, listening to Matt, humming under his breath. Good thing that there was no sound in space, huh…

Finally, he saw the first explosion. He watched Haggar stop dead in her tracks, on that weird platform, he watched as the particle barrier fell and he grinned.

“Bye bye, bitch.”

Breathe in. Hold, aim. shoot. Breathe out. 

Matt howled in his com, “You got her, now RUN”

And oh, he ran, down Red’s head, falling, her catching him, all practiced ease and barely contained elegance. they were out of the druid’s reach within a minute, maybe even less and on their way to Matt.

“Witch is dead, how is Doofus Emperor?”, he switched his channel, hearing Keith’s gasps and laughter.

“Dead. We did it. Lance, we did it!”

“amara was right, we didn’t need Voltron at all in this…”, Lance shrieked and Red nudged him… more like punched him. Keith laughed on his side.

“Just you wait. We still have to get out of here and do something about the druids, the thousands of planets without a head, the fleets breathing down our necks. This was the first step.”

And damn, they aced it.

  
  


Amara was grinning from ear to ear, when he and Matt jumped out of Red, Shiro was hugging Pidge to death, Hunk was crying. 

But they all looked proud, so very proud. Alluras hand was on his shoulder and Lance smiled. 

Someone grabbed him and suddenly there was rough skin and a mass of black pressed against his forehead, amara’s golden, warm, sharp eyes burning into his, “Well done, Sharpshooter.”


End file.
